This archive report was first published on 24 June 2020.
On June 24, 2020, the Employment and Labor Relations Court in Kisumu made a landmark ruling in a case involving striking health workers in the county. The court ordered the workers to return to work by Friday, June 26, 2020.
Justice Nduma Nderi, who presided over the case, declined to declare the strike as illegal, citing the workers' legitimate concerns. Instead, he directed the county government to effect the promotion of the workers by June 30, 2020.
The court also ordered the county to backdate the workers' promotion arrears to July 2019 and pay them by July 30, 2020. Failure to comply with this directive would allow the workers to call another strike.
The case was brought to the court by the Kisumu Governor's administration, which sought to halt the strike by the health workers. The county had sued the Kenya National Union of Clinical Officers, Kenya National Union of Nurses, Kenya National Medical Laboratory Officers, and the Union of Kenya Civil Servants.
Earlier, on June 11, 2020, Governor Anyang' Nyong'o had threatened to sack over 3,000 medical professionals if they failed to resume work. However, the workers called his bluff, accusing the governor of neglecting their needs and concerns.
“We're not going to be cowed by sacking threats. Our issues are legitimate and we will listen to nothing short of addressing them,” said Maurice Opetu, the Kisumu branch secretary of the Kenya National Union of Nurses.
